The New Zealand Hawks have gone down to the AIS Under 17 squad in a close match (AIS 4.16.40 d NZ Hawks 5.6.36). . I asked the New Zealand Coach Justin Davies for his thoughts the day after the game.
Justin Davies is the coach of the New Zealand Hawks, which played out a thriller agains the AIS Academy Under 17s at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday. (You can view the reports on the game here and here.) A former Frankston Dolphins player in the VFA, he also had coaching roles at Frankston YCW and Red Hill in the Mornington Peninsula Football League before moving to New Zealand in 2005.
Justin was the assistant coach of the Hawks during their International Cup campaign in 2008 when New Zealand came second to Papua New Guinea. He took over the senior coaching reigns the following year.
New Zealand play the AIS side annually, in a game which Justin says is used to gauge the progress of the New Zealand sides development. He says that the last three years have shown that the sides are getting closer and closer. This year the margin was just 4 points.
The team went into this years match with the goal of negating the percieved edge the AIS side had in skill and speed, and deliberately tried to play a more defensive, congested style of football. This was reflected in the match reports which all agree that the game was very defensive in nature. Justin says the tackling pressure from the Hawks was fantastic.
Justin tells me that the New Zealand side has great strengths in fitness and endurance, and that the team excells in man on man defence. Conversely, they lack something in general football skills, awareness and occasional inconsistency which can cause good play to come undone.
For this match, the New Zealand side had the assistance of Andrew Congalton (NZ), as well as Paul Hudson (St Kilda), Mark Mckenzie (Hawthorn) and Andrew Cadzow (AFL). Justin says that the involvement and assistance of these organisations and personnel is having a tangible effect on the development of both coaches and players alike.
Justin says that this years standout performers for New Zealand were Khan Haretuku (Frankston VFA), Cameron Illett (NT Thunder) and Andrew Howison. Joe Baker-Thomas, listed last year by St Kilda, played well up forward, while. Cam Bailey, a NZ player featured prominently in the Hawks defence, and Justin says that he’s going to be one to watch in the future. Siope Ngata will be another to keep an eye out for.
This years team was notable for having several Australian based players who didnt come through the AFL NZ system, including Haretuku, Illett, Matt and Lachie Argus. Justin says these players (all play NEAFL/VFL) add experience and leadership to the side.
The New Zealand side before the game: image – Tanlayco Sports.
Justin believes that the result this year is indicative that the New Zealand side is getting closer in skill to its Australian counterpart, and that the number of players linked to AFL clubs is indicative of that. There are five New Zealand players from the AFLNZ system on AFL clubs lists (three at Hawthorn, 1 at St Kilda and 1 at Melbourne), with West Perth in the WAFL having also signing Tamati Young, while the NZ captain has been invited to train with Sandringham over this coming preseason.
There is another half dozen or so players eligible for New Zealand playing in state level clubs in the NEAFL and VFL that didn’t come through the NZ system, but combined they are poised to give the international cup in Melbourne a good run.
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In other New Zealand news, Sommet Sports and Sky Sports have signed three year deals to broadcast games into New Zealand. Sommet will broadcast 5 games live and the rest on delay, while Sky will broadcast 1 live game a week, and another on delay. Both stations will broadcast a highlights package.
